Council hears update on Tompkins Green Energy Network community choice aggregation

Ithaca Common Council members on Monday received a presentation on the Tompkins Green Energy Network (TGen), the local community choice aggregation program that will bulk-purchase electricity and (initially) gas for most city accounts, presenter Director Evans said.

"It's the Costco of energy," Director Evans said, summarizing the program's purpose: to combine buying power and issue a request for proposals to procure more renewable supply at a stable rate than individual customers typically obtain.

Why it matters: The council was told the program aims to deliver cleaner electricity, consumer savings if market bids allow, and new pathways for local renewable projects and microgrids. Director Evans said the statewide regulatory process delayed launch but that a CCA administrator approval came through at the end of December and the city is ready to move forward with procurement and outreach.

Details from the presentation: Director Evans described TGen as an opt-out CCA that would automatically enroll most residential and small-business accounts unless customers opt out; accounts on energy assistance and very large utility customers (for example, certain major campus accounts) are excluded from automatic enrollment. The city plans to issue an RFP for a supplier under the administrator's management; Local Power is the proposed administrator and, Evans said, is currently the only administrator approved in New York State to manage CCAs of this type.

On price and timing, Evans said the city will not launch the program if bids are higher than NYSEG's default supply price and that the goal is to "meet or beat" the default rate, with typical CCA programs targeting 10—20% supply savings when market conditions allow. "There's it's really, really hard to predict energy prices," Evans added. She noted the program can provide some protection on supply price but will not eliminate NYSEG delivery charges, which are set through separate Public Service Commission (PSC) rate cases held roughly every three years.

Distributed energy resources and financing: Evans described a complementary voluntary investment program (DER) to let customers invest in local renewable projects and to create a pool of customers within the CCA to support local solar, microgrids and other projects. She said financing for DER projects will typically be structured as loans; green bonds or other instruments are possible for city-scale projects. Evans noted the city has budgeted DEC grant funds for foundational DER program development and said $45,000 was allocated from that grant for the program's early work.

Public outreach and next steps: Because New York's CCA rules require extensive consumer notifications, the city must run a 120-day outreach period with direct mail, public notices and opt-out mailings; Evans said the team will do radio, television and community events and will provide repeated opt-out notices as required. If schedules hold, the city expects to execute a contract with the approved administrator by the end of the month and begin customer enrollment in November. Evans said the program is expected to yield immediate greenhouse gas reductions "to the tune of about 20 to 30% of our total emissions." (That estimate was presented by Evans during the Q&A.)

Council members asked detailed questions about price risk, PSC oversight and whether larger institutional accounts (for example, campuses) can be included. Evans and council members noted municipalities may participate in PSC rate cases and that delivery and transmission charges remain regulated by the PSC and outside the CCA procurement.

The presentation closed with councilmembers and staff agreeing to continue planning, finalize contracts with the administrator, and begin mandated outreach when administrative steps are complete.